This is about SENS research and suicide. I will start by noting that I hope that all suicides stop happening. I also support SENS research. SENS is an acronym that stands for strategies for negligible engineered senescence.
I learned about SENS from the book Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime. Regarding libertarian principles as they can be applied to psychology, the writings of psychiatrist Thomas Szasz have influenced me significantly.
In theory, SENS may be able to defeat aging. There are other efforts like Human Longevity Inc. that may lead to the same or similar outcome. SENS Research Foundation which was founded or co-founded by one of the authors of Ending Aging, Aubrey de Grey is the primary force behind SENS.
I am writing this here to express the idea that rather than what currently exists, I would rather live on an Earth where adult humans do not die of old age, but also, they are free to leave Earth at the time of their choosing. This is the alternative to the current situation in which humans do die of old age if something else does not take them out first, and also where currently adults can be locked up in psychiatric wards who decide that they do want to die and will engage in suicide and are found out. The current situation is one in which adult humans die of old age and are potentially subject to psychiatric oppression.
Earth can be a wonderful place to live. For many though, living on Earth is filled with traumas and is not a wonderful place to live. To use anything other than kindness, persuasion and reason on adults who wish to check out and leave Earth is ethically wrong and morally deficient. Currently, psychiatric powers have the legal authorization to use force, coercion and confinement on adults who plan to die. I do support defeating aging. I also support outlawing psychiatric oppression. I think that if those who champion the cause of defeating aging also advocate for outlawing psychiatric oppression, then the mere notion of defeating aging may be more palatable for some who are still stuck in a pro aging mindset.
